David Gregory will not host this Sunday's ‘Meet The Press’  —  NBC's David Gregory, the subject of a now-popular police investigation, is on vacation and will not host this Sunday's edition of “Meet The Press.”  —  The Washington Metropolitan Police Department launched an investigation …

The White House's Kent Conrad problem  —  On Fox News Sunday, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), the outgoing chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, made a proposal to solve the “fiscal cliff.”  The proposal isn't going anywhere, but its specifics explain something important about the White House's negotiating strategy.

Hawaii Gov. Names Sen. Inouye Replacement  —  A supporter congratulates then-Lt. Gov.-elect Brian Schatz, center, as his wife Linda looks on at the Neil Abercrombie-Brian Schatz Hawaii governor's post election party in Honolulu, Nov. 3, 2010.  Schatz was appointed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie …

Benghazi penalties are bogus  —  The four officials supposedly out of jobs because of their blunders in the run-up to the deadly Benghazi terror attack remain on the State Department payroll — and will all be back to work soon, The Post has learned.  —  The highest-ranking official caught …

Ex-President Bush in guarded condition in ICU with elevated fever  —  Former President George H.W. Bush was in the intensive care unit of a Houston hospital Wednesday night battling a fever, his spokesman said.  —  The 41st president has been at Methodist hospital for more than a month now.

Chuck Hagel Gets His Second Wind  —  Tom Friedman, in this morning's New York Times, endorses Chuck Hagel for secretary of defense.  Friedman finds it “disgusting” that Hagel has been “smeared as an Israel hater at best” by his detractors (some neoconservatives).

Let's Come Together, America  —  Posted by Howard S., Starbucks chairman, president and chief executive officer  —  There are moments in our lives when we have an opportunity to ignite tremendous positive change—not just in the lives of the customers and communities we serve every day, but in our country.

Liberals Panic As They Lose the Gun Narrative  —  When you argue for a living, you can tell how an argument is going for you.  The evidence and my gut both tell me that the liberals have lost control of the gun control narrative.  —  Not for lack of trying - it was almost as if they were poised …

PSY CHRISTMAS SHOW BOMBS  —  The 31st annual “Christmas in Washington” concert on TNT December 21 suffered a dramatic 25 percent loss in viewers from the previous year, according to Nielsen Media Research.  The 2011 cablecast of “Christmas in Washington” drew 1.5 million viewers.

A cost savings everyone should endorse  —  The cliff talks have disintegrated, victim of the Crazy Caucus also known as the Republican House.  But eventually they will resume, and with them discussion of a way to raise billions in tax revenue — an approach on which House Speaker John Boehner …

Boy Scout files on suspected abuse published by The Times  —  Viewable online: about 1,200 previously unpublished files kept by the Boy Scouts of America on volunteers and employees expelled for suspected sexual abuse.  —  In this June 14, 2012, file photo, attorney Kelly Clark speaks …

Court punts on recess appointments  —  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has declined to wade into the issue of whether President Barack Obama had the authority to make four recess appointments earlier this year when the Senate was not officially in recess.

Journal News' gun-owner database draws criticism  —  Comments, calls go national, thanks to social media, key websites  —  WHITE PLAINS — Thousands of people, many from outside Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties, have taken to their computers and phones in rage after The Journal News posted …